JAKARTA: A search is underway for a boat with eight crew members on board that went missing in the Indonesia's eastern region, a search and rescue agency official said on Friday.

The official said that the search began on Thursday after the owner of the boat, identified as KM Farida, made a report to the local search and agency on the same day, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The boat which was carrying construction materials and eight crews reportedly departed from the district of Mimika in Central Papua province on Monday morning and was expected to arrive in the district of Asmat in South Papua on Tuesday afternoon," he said.

Maritime accidents are common in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of around 17,000 islands, due to lax safety standards